Steering wheel Shake

if you are talking to me... yes they have.

 

So does anyone know a good shop to take my truck to so someone can look at?

 

Had the same problem after purchasing new tires. Had them rebalanced 4 times and still had a shake and vibration problem. I called the dealer and talked to them and found out that Toyota rims dont fit on a cone type balancer properly without the use of a tool called the heweka adapter kit. It centers the wheel using the lug holes. Without this tool the rim does not fit on the cone properly causing inaccurate balancing. Had the dealer balance the the wheels and everything was fine after that.

 

I've read of the heweka adapter kit probably on TW B 4. Did a search and this is the only thread that come up so maybe some one who knows how should but this in for in a sticky for the shakes.

 

I'm having the same problem and it sucks. So is the only way to fix it to force balance them or take it to the dealer? And does the dealer charge a lot more for it?

 

If you are having the same steering wheel shake and vibration after having tires replaced on factory wheels then chances are your wheels are not balanced properly. The shop may not have used the heweka adapter on thier machine. The dealer I used after explaining that I had my wheels balanced, 3 times. roadforeced once and still had a shake told me about the adapter that needs to be used on Toyota rims to properly mount them on the balancer machine. I had the dealer balance them for $60.00 using the adapter and the problem was fixed. I guess most tire shops dont know that they have to use the adapter on toyota wheels.

 

Is the heweka adapter kit necessary for all Toyota's, or all Tacoma's, or just 4.0 Tacoma's ? They reason I ask is I've bought tires from BJ's because they give lifetime rotation free, free lifetime balance and free leak fix. I doubt they have or use heweka adapter kit but I never had a problem.

 

I believe it should be used on all 5 and 6 lug Toyota alloy wheels.

 

Guess I just been lucky.

 

I recently got my tired rotated at the dealer and he must have knocked off one my weights because it started shaking like crazy. My truck drove PERFECTLY beforehand. I took it to a Tire Kingdom and they convinced me to put equal in the tires. It was worse after that! I got a refund and began calling some of my buddies that I wheel with and they recommended another place. They put the sticky weights back on and it's pretty much fixed now. It's still not back to 100% but I need to take it back to them when I get time.

 

Note:

Bought new tires...drove fine.

Had the tires balanced and rotated.....shake.

Read this post.

Spoke to Firestone.... "Oh, we have the adapter, but it is missing pieces."

Took it to the dealership and had them balance the tires....NO shake!

The adapter has dowels on it that balance it properly.

This is my understanding.

Hope this helps.


-Al


PS. I have read several post about this tire rides rough and/or shakes. I have to believe not being properly balanced could be the cause of a lot of people's disappointment.

 

ok here is the deal, i have plenty of experience with shitty tires and horrible balancing. so there many factors here. make sure that they arent being stupid and ONLY putting weights on the inside of the rim and not on the lips. I went to discount many times and many different locations until i found one that does it right, takes their time and lets me watch them. also they have had to a number of times take me wheel off the rim and rotate it. my tires come to find out have heavy spots on them meaning they can add and remove weights all day long and never ever get them balanced. while the wheel is on their balancing machine make sure they are using the right adaptor on the machine. when i was at one place the stupid fuck did not use the correct adaptor, they came up to me and said i need a new wheel because the rim was bent. then after i went back there and watched them run the tire again another kid working there walked up and said make sure your using the right adaptor...so there is another culprit to a bad balancing job. there are little things like this that goes into properly balancing tires correctly, hope you figure out your problem and goo luck!

oh also as stupid as this sounds make sure there isnt any dirt/mud compiled on the inside on the rim otherwise that could also cause an vib due to being imbalanced

 

Have you tried these?
http://www.counteractbalancing.com/
I use them in my motorcycle, and gotta say THEY WORK for me. When I need new rubber for the cage, they will go in there.
It's nice not having wheel weights, or paying extra for the balancing act.

 

Would a set of aftermarket wheels need the adaptor also? I just traded my stock wheels with 245 75/16 for a set of American Outlaw wheels with 265 75/16 Hankook DynaPro Atms and it shakes between 55-65. I took it to Walmart right away to make sure the guy didnt give me a bent rim, and they said it looked good and rebalanced them. I don't have much confidence in Walmart though. I will put on a set of stock wheels and tires again if this shake doesnt go away. Take them to a Toyota dealership to balance? Don't want to invest much money in this either.

 

I have 1/4' spacers on the front and have the same thing. If you are running spacers that is a good possibility. I have new wheels ordered with the proper offset to get rid of the spacers.

 

Mine shake with no spacer, aftermarket wheels with offset. Do most places do a "Road Force Balance?" I've never heard of this.

 

OK little update for you. I removed my 1/4' spacers last night and it is now smooth as silk!

 

I had the same problem when the truck was new. balanced the tires to get the shake to an acceptable level.... 90,000 miles later I put new rims on with spacers... dramatically increased shake... removed rims and spacers... put stock aluminum rims on with same (new)tires.... problem solved... Am going to try again with a different rim... My offroad shop is working with me very well because they know Tacoma's are very sensitive to rim/tire balance. I have found a rim that I like (16x8 Eagle Alloy 186 series) that will clear the caliper with no spacer required.... Praying that the shake will not return, If it does I will have them road forced balanced at my toyota dealer... they usually have a road force balancer. Tacoma's are sensitive, if your tire or rim is even slightly out of round it's gonna shake. Remeber, you can sping balance and EGG; but its still an EGG. Find out which wheels appear out of round when they balance them... and replace them.

Good luck with yours.... I know your pain... love the truck... the shake frusterates the hell out of ya... good thing though, if it's small enough it doesn't seem to wear out ball joints prematurely... I have 91,000 miles now and they still ride like new.

I will also be replacing the shocks with Bilstein 5100's when the new rims come in to further smooth out the ride and level the truck... should be sweet.

 

not cool.

 

I like the way you break it down into short steps...simple, concise and proves a point. I can't wait to have the dealer balance my wheels. The audacity of many garage's to knowingly balance our wheels without the proper adapter is despicable, but, unfortunately, completely believable.

Thanks guys!